Pet ownership and in particular, the owning and maintaining of dogs is popular throughout many areas of the world. Responsibilities associated with dog and other types of pet ownership include the providing of adequate facilities that enable a dog to exercise and also to deposit the animal's waste products. A dog may frequently urinate throughout a given period in order to properly eliminate biological waste. In addition, “territory marking” is a common habit of male dogs and may occur relatively frequently in both an indoor and outdoor environment due to the animal's natural instincts.
Accordingly, in order to provide adequate facilities for the elimination of waste, dogs and other types of pets may be walked or otherwise provided access to the outdoors. However, many pet owners are unable to provide access to the outdoors for the purpose of waste elimination. This may be because pet owners are away from home for extended periods of time and are unable to walk their pets outside in a timely manner. This may also be because pet owners live in urban, cold or otherwise inhospitable or inconvenient environments and prefer to train their pets to eliminate waste indoors to avoid encountering the elements or inhospitable environments. This may also be because many local agencies have enacted ordinances or regulations which restrict or otherwise regulate tethering of the animal and the disposal of waste products eliminated by a pet. Accordingly, absent the availability of an enclosed backyard or other outdoor area in a pleasant, convenient environment, suitable for waste elimination, there may be numerous occurrences throughout the day when a male dog's natural tendency is either to demonstrate its dominance over a specific territory or otherwise relieve itself through urination.
More specifically, male dogs often “mark” objects that are new and brought into the home or other area occupied by the animal. As set forth above, such “urine marking” is a natural instinct of many male dogs in order to demonstrate “ownership” of a given indoor or outdoor area. The inherent drive of a male dog to perform such territorial marking is a natural instinct and accordingly may be a difficult habit to overcome. Marking behavior is particularly troublesome when is occurs indoors or in other inappropriate areas which may be commonly occupied or frequently accessed by the animal's owners or other humans.
Accordingly, there is a need in this area for a waste station or similar device specifically structured to facilitate the collection of urine which satisfies a male dog's natural instincts, but which eliminates or significantly reduces the possibility of damage being done to surrounding objects such as furniture, floors, or the like. A preferred waste station should also be configured to accommodate the natural “leg lifting” tendencies of male dogs thereby facilitating the use of such a waste station and satisfying a male dog's natural tendency to mark its territory or alternatively to collect periodically deposited urine. There is a need for such a waste station to be convenient for a human to operate or deploy. Additionally, there is a need for such a waste station to eliminate or reduce human contact with the pet waste.